Why do we buy stuff we don't need? Maybe for the same reason that some people can't stand stuff at all. Listen as author Michael Easter speaks...
Under what conditions does technology improve prosperity? Mass unemployment and deepening inequality are not new concerns, but the emergence of artificial intelligence has prompted great thinkers like Daron Acemoglu to suggest norms of engagement to optimize and equalize the benefits...
Journalist and author Adam Minter talks about his book Secondhand with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Minter explores the strange and fascinating world of secondhand stuff--the downsizing that the elderly do when they move to smaller quarters, the unseen side of...
Under what conditions does technology improve prosperity? Mass unemployment and deepening inequality are not new concerns, but the emergence of artificial intelligence has prompted great thinkers like Daron Acemoglu to suggest norms of engagement to optimize and equalize the benefits from technological change. On the o...
Why do we buy stuff we don't need? Maybe for the same reason that some people can't stand stuff at all. Listen as author Michael Easter speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about how two seemingly opposed approaches to our possessions--minimalism and hoarding--may stem from the same impulse to cope with uncertainty.Â...
Surely perfection is better than imperfection. But applying technology to improve decision-making can backfire. Listen as ed-tech innovator Daisy Christodoulou and EconTalk's Russ Roberts talk about the costs of seeking perfection when technology is used to improve refereeing in sports. They also talk about ways to em...
Glenn Loury is a Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Loury is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the author of many books including The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, Race, Incarceration, and American Values, and th...
Should we worry about the human future in a world of AI? Reid Hoffman is unafraid and even optimistic. He argues that the brave new world that awaits is going to be great for humanity. Listen as he talks about his book Superagency with EconTalk's Russ Roberts and argues that the future is bright not just for AI, but ...
Tariffs are (still) in the air, and don't show any sign of retreating from our newsfeeds. Will they help or hurt? In this recent episode, Scott Sumner makes the case against tariffs and various other forms of government intervention that go by the name of industrial policy. EconTalk host Russ Roberts notes the difficul...
How can opera, with words we rarely understand, make us cry? Why does opera, filled with melodrama, move us? Listen as poet and librettist Dana Gioia explains to EconTalk's Russ Roberts why words matter more than we think, in both opera and on Broadway.
Can Musk use DOGE to reduce the size and power of the bureaucracy and big government? Michael Munger of Duke University thinks not, but EconTalk's Russ Roberts isn't so sure. Listen as they discuss the risks of empowering bureaucrats to rein in other bureaucrats and whether change can really happen given the power o...
Many Americans are increasingly disillusioned with the ability of the free market to bring down skyrocketing housing prices. More Americans believe housing prices to be inflated by the greed of landlords and lobbyists, combined with the inability of policymakers to effectively regulate housing costs. Proof of this is t...
Under settler colonialism, you're either a settler or indigenous and the sin of the founding of America, Australia, and Israel, for example, is not just a past injustice but a perpetuating mistake that explains the present. Listen as poet, author, and literary critic Adam Kirsch explains how an academic theory helps us...
Public health officials should tell the truth, even when it's complicated. Even when some people might misunderstand. Otherwise, says economist Emily Oster of Brown University, the public will come to distrust the people we need to trust if we are to make good decisions both personally and publicly. Listen as Oster tal...
Why are European cities charming and American cities often so charmless? Simple, says urbanist Alain Bertaud: most American cities are zoned for single-family housing. The result is not enough customers within walking distance of a business, and not enough parking for the customers who drive. Why American cities are zo...
Is Israel's war with Lebanon going to end differently from past attempts to secure Israel's northern border? Journalist Matti Friedman, who recounted his experience as a soldier in Lebanon in his book Pumpkinflowers, reflects on that experience in light of current events and looks to the future in this conversation wit...
We've heard a lot about misinformation in the news of late...but how do we know when we encounter it? What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation, and is there any space for truth anymore? If too many people believe things that aren't true, shouldn't we try to fix that??? Not necessarily, says th...
Tariffs are in the air. Will they help or hurt Americans? Listen as economist Scott Sumner makes the case against tariffs and various other forms of government intervention that go by the name of industrial policy. Along the way he looks at some of the history of worrying about the economic and military dangers posed b...
What does it take to translate a 900-page Russian novel written before the fall of the Soviet Union? For Robert Chandler it meant living in a seaside cottage for four months to immerse himself completely in the characters' lives and to meet his publisher's deadline. Listen as Chandler, the translator of Vasily Grossman...